String Instruments
String Instruments launched in BrainPOP Arts & Music July 6, 2018. Summary At the end of the updated video, Moby dances to hurdy-gurdy music. Appearances *Tim *Moby Transcript and Quiz *String Instruments/Transcript *String Instruments/Quiz FYI Comics Around The World European and American orchestral music is dominated by instruments in the violin family, but there’s a whole other world of stringed instruments out there! Here are a few to look out for. Balalaika (pictured):''' A Russian instrument that looks like a guitar with a triangular body, the balalaika is popular in folk music. It sounds a bit like a ukulele. '''Berimbau: The berimbau is a one-string, Brazilian doodad that looks like a hunting bow with a gourd at the bottom. Played by scraping the string with a wooden stick, it produces a metallic, bass sound. Bouzouki: This four-stringed, Greek instrument sounds like a mandolin and looks like a lute. Ektara: Similar in look to the berimbau, this one-stringed instrument from the subcontinent (India/Pakistan/Bangladesh) is played with a bow. Not surprisingly, it sounds a bit like a one-stringed violin. Barbat: Played with a flexible pick, the Iranian barbat sounds a bit like a guitar crossed with a cello. Saz: The Turkish counterpart to Greece’s bouzouki, the saz has three strings instead of four. Quirky Stuff Back before everything was made of plastic, the strings on violins, guitars, and other stringed instruments were made out of the intestines of different animals. As far back as Ancient Egypt (more than 4,000 years ago), sheep and goat intestines were the material of choice for discerning musicians. Horses, pigs, mules, and donkeys also were made to sacrifice their innards for art. Nylon, silk, and steel are more common for strings these days. But some musicians still prefer the more expensive catgut strings. Don’t worry, they’re not using cat intestines! "Catgut" likely is an English version of the German word "kitgut," which referred to a small violin. The highest quality strings for racquet sports like tennis and squash are made of catgut, too. Way Back When Antonio Stradivari, who lived in Cremona, Italy from 1644 to 1737, produced some of the finest stringed instruments ever made. He made only a few alterations on the standard designs of his day, but even during his lifetime he was famous for the quality of his craftsmanship. An authentic instrument made by Stradivari is usually inscribed with the date it was made and the words "Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis." Such an instrument is usually called a Stradivarius, or Strad for short. Today, about 650 of the instruments survive, mostly violins. They can sell for millions of dollars, and some of the most famous performers in the world own them: Yo-Yo Ma owns a cello; Itzhak Perlman, a violin called the Soil Strad; and Gil Shaham has one called the Countess Polignac. So what’s the mystery? Well, no one has been able to figure out how Stradivari produced such wonderful instruments. One theory is that the varnish he used had some special properties. Another suggests that the wood was soaked before being used. And a third theory claims it all comes down to sunspots. An unusual absence of sunspots before Stradivari was born created a worldwide downturn in temperature known as the Little Ice Age. The colder weather resulted in denser wood, and that accounts for the instruments’ unmatched tone! In Practice Thousands of children have learned to play stringed instruments with something called the Suzuki method. The creator of the method, Japanese educator Dr. Shin’ichi Suzuki (pictured), believed that all children could become musicians if they were properly taught. Observing that babies learn to speak very quickly, Dr. Suzuki created a program of musical education based on the way that children learn languages. His program involves: a) surrounding children with music almost from birth; b) beginning musical training between the ages of three and five; c) teaching children to play by ear before they learn to read music; d) playing in groups as well as individually; e) regular repetition of practice songs; and f) performing frequently, so children will learn to enjoy performing. In the Suzuki method, parents are encouraged to be deeply involved, attending lessons and supervising practices. Critics say that children in the Suzuki method are pushed to learn too fast and that technical ability and rote learning are overemphasized. But many of the finest performers in the world were trained with this technique. FYI Comic There is none. Newslea https://newsela.com/read/cuba-violins/id/5668/ Category:BrainPOP Episodes Category:Making Music Category:Arts & Music Category:2018 Episodes Category:Episodes in July Category:July 2018 Episodes